Federal grant fading for teen mentoring program

Phil Foster has a fatherly demeanor, but he found a kindred spirit in a 16-year-old kid caught smoking pot at school.

Foster, Decatur Air Products facility manager, is a mentor in Morgan County System of Services' teen mentoring program: The Game Plan.

In their time together, Foster's teen has taken an interest in welding, possibly spurred by their trips through the Air Products plant.

Since The Game Plan began in January 2012, 22 at-risk teenagers have been paired with adult mentors.

The program is funded by a three-year Alabama Economic and Community Affairs grant that drops by a third every year. It gave the program $70,000 its first year and $50,000 this year. If The Game Plan is to continue beyond 2014, it will have to secure other funding.

"With the federal budget crisis going on now, it makes me worried there won't be a grant for us in two years," Mentoring Coordinator Kim Gully said.

"We've seen remarkable stories of improvement in kids," Gully said. "Two of them have had complete 180 academic turnarounds."

Gully said one girl went from apathy about school to making A's and B's and only one C on her report card. She told Gully she "never knew I was that smart."

Mentors and students are matched by gender and personality traits gleaned from interviews. The teens are recommended for the program by the Morgan County juvenile court system.

Mentors go through training and a background check. Gully said the program has never had to turn away a mentor, but the number of kids who need a mentor still far outpaces available adults. The goal for 2012 was to pair 50 mentors with kids.

Mentors start by getting to know their teens. Some take them to ballgames or to grab a burger. Foster went with his to get a haircut.

Then they ask the more personal questions: "What do you want to do?" "What goals do you have?"

Mentor Janet Viers, a safety technician at Wayne Farms, said her teen was standoffish at first. Eventually she came out of her shell and performed in a church Black History Month play.

"She is a very good actor," Viers said.

Mentors are asked to spend at least six hours a month with the teens. Viers said many mentors put in more hours and the teens become emotionally attached, often calling their mentors with news or to ask to see them.

"You have to be strong enough," Viers said. "Not every day is a jolly day."

Foster's teen grew up largely without a father. Foster, a father himself, sympathized but was careful to not fall into a paternal role. He said it's important for mentors to be more friend and role model than authority figure.

"We do a lot of encouraging," he said.

To volunteer to be a mentor or to request to be matched with one, call Gully at 256-350-8434, ext. 208.